From Somalia via Sweden, With Skates

African Refugees Try to Warm Up to Bandy, a Cousin of Hockey

By

Niclas Rolander

Updated Sept. 4, 2013 10:31 p.m. ET

BORLÄNGE, Sweden—Sports fans whose heartstrings were tugged by the Jamaican bobsled team back in the 1980s may have a new underdog to pull for as a group of Somali men living in Sweden look to master the fast-paced and ice-cold game of bandy.

It is a form of larger-scale ice hockey popular in the Nordic countries and Russia that is played by 11-man teams on soccer-size ice fields, usually outdoors. Unlike hockey, bandy isn't a...